Turkey’s current account deficit widens
ANKARA – Anadolu Agency
Turkey’s current account deficit has widened, standing at $1.78 billion in August, up almost by $2 billion year-on-year, due to a decline in income from tourism and imports, the Central Bank said in a report on Oct. 12.The 12-month rolling deficit rose to $31.02 billion, up from $29 billion in July, according to the report.
The fall in the services surplus due to slipping tourism revenue, despite a foreign trade deficit decline of $170 million from a year earlier, was the main reason for the increase in the current account deficit, according to the Central Bank.
“Despite the decline in the overall current account deficit in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period of 2015, especially due to tourism, we see a figure higher than forecasts for the month and the figure for the same month last year,” said Enver Erkan, an analyst from Kapital FX.
Erkan added that the positive contribution of low oil prices also started to disappear, as global oil prices recover.
Turkey’s revenues from tourism fell to $5 billion in the second quarter of the year, a decrease of 35.6 percent from the same period in the previous year, the Turkish Statistical Institute had stated on July 29.
The fall in the services surplus due to slipping tourism revenue, despite a foreign trade deficit decline of $170 million from a year earlier, was the main reason for the increase in the current account deficit, according to the Central Bank.
“Despite the decline in the overall current account deficit in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period of 2015, especially due to tourism, we see a figure higher than forecasts for the month and the figure for the same month last year,” said Enver Erkan, an analyst from Kapital FX.
Erkan added that the positive contribution of low oil prices also started to disappear, as global oil prices recover.
Turkey’s revenues from tourism fell to $5 billion in the second quarter of the year, a decrease of 35.6 percent from the same period in the previous year, the Turkish Statistical Institute had stated on July 29.
